Drink Champs

Ja Rule Admonishes Irv Gotti For His Recent Comments About Ashanti On ‘Drink Champs’

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If ever the “Where’s Ja?” meme was unironically appropriate, it was this week after Irv Gotti’s appearance on the Drink Champs podcast. During the inebriated chat, Gotti waxed nostalgic about the success of Murder Inc., but also messily shared details of his inappropriate relationship with Murder Inc. artist Ashanti. Disappointed fans called him out on Twitter, while Ashanti collaborator Fat Joe stood up for her on his own podcast. But the voice people most wanted to hear tugging on Gotti’s elbow to check his out-of-pocket behavior was the tentpole artist of the label Gotti once helmed.

Ja didn’t disappoint, either, putting up a supportive Instagram post featuring photos of Ashanti performing with him. In the caption, he wrote, “Brotherly love… The last few days have been very turbulent for me but it’s time to land the plane… I love my sis I love my bro but I DO NOT condone or agree with the behavior nor the way Gotti handled things on drink champs.” However, he also asked to be left out of the situation between the two, referring to himself as “Switzerland” (the nation is famous for its neutrality in geopolitical conflict). “I hope y’all understand how uncomfortable this is for me being in the middle of something I wish to not be,” he wrote. “Going forward all I ask is to be left out of this please and thank you!!! Sincerely, Switzerland Bennett.” (As in, “my name’s Bennett, and I ain’t in it.”)

While it might not have been the outspoken stand that Fat Joe took earlier this week, Ja does appear to be someone that has Irv’s ear. Hearing that one of his closest peers doesn’t rock with his comments might be enough to shake him out of his melancholy funk.

Irv Gotti Recounts How He Found Out Ashanti Was Dating Nelly On ‘Drink Champs’

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Drink Champs may say that its mission is to give hip-hop icons their flowers while they’re still around to smell them, but fans’ chief interest in the show is the tea that spills in the free-spirited environment. With the alcohol flowing and hosts NORE and DJ EFN egging them on, guests are more than happy to get a little messy about drama both past and current, creating clips that the show’s producers are more than happy to use to promote each upcoming episode.

Case in point, a future episode sees rap producer Irv Gotti of Murder Inc. Records stopping by to promote his upcoming Murder Inc. documentary and, in a clip shared by NORE, waxing nostalgic about his former relationship with Murder Inc. singer Ashanti. “Gotti ain’t over it,” NORE laughs in the caption as Gotti recounts in the video how he found out that Ashanti was dating Country Grammar rapper Nelly. As it happens, he says, “I was at home… NBA package, I like watching sports. ‘My God, what’s this commotion going on in the stadium?’ We just found out what the commotion is: Nelly has walked in with Ashanti.”

Of course, as pointed out by many — and I mean MANY — followers on Twitter, Gotti may not deserve as much sympathy as he feels he does, as he was married at the time, Ashanti was 12 years his junior at 24, and she was technically his employee, creating an imbalanced power dynamic even if he hadn’t been cheating on his wife at the time.

So, yeah. Drink Champs is where rap icons go to get blitzed and drunkenly reminisce about 20-year-old breakups and beef for the consumption of bored office drones who love the mess but also love dunking on said icons for engagement on Twitter. Jordan Peele was right.

Irv Gotti and Ja Rule Set as Guests on the Next Episode of ‘Drink Champs’

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Up $300 million, Irv Gotti is headed to Drink Champs and he is bringing Ja Rule with him.

In a new trailer for the show, N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN sit down with the Murder Inc. legends ahead of The Murder INC Story hitting BET. The clips highlight a bunch of topics, one of which appears to be clarity on who truly made Ashanti’s music.

You can see the trailer below.

But about that $300Ms, Irv Gotti stated that Oliver Chastan’s Iconoclast has purchased the master recordings of Murder Inc. during BET Weekend. The seasoned music businessman revealed a $300 million transaction in which he sold a 50% stake in his master recordings and received additional cash for a number of film and television projects.

Iconoclast, a company founded by an influential figure in the music industry Oliver Chastan, made its debut in the market for acquiring music rights in February by acquiring the publishing and NIL rights of rock legend Robbie Robertson (name, image, and likeless).

Visionary Ideas Entertainment Darcell Lawrence, the company’s president, Nicki Lorenzo-Rabin, the CFO, and John “BJ” Bryant, the EVP, will continue to run the business and create content for BET/Paramount Global.

On August 9, the third season of the BET series Tales debuts. Tales is a scripted anthology series of “song stories” that weaves timeless and contemporary hip-hop songs into engrossing visual narratives from the lyrics of some of hip-hop’s greatest hits. Murder Inc., an unscripted documentary series that will serve as a five-part television series narrating the untold tale of the rise, unexpected fall, and redemption of Murder Inc.

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